


Playlist

by RensSaxophone



Series: Ranmaru's Birthday!! 2020 [6]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26629423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RensSaxophone/pseuds/RensSaxophone
Summary: Tokiya accidentally finds a playlist that Ranmaru has built for him.
Relationships: Ichinose Tokiya/Kurosaki Ranmaru
Series: Ranmaru's Birthday!! 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929976
Kudos: 8





	Playlist

**Author's Note:**

> Four days!!!! Ranmaru's birthday is really close! :)

Ranmaru lets his arm drop, no longer covering his eyes, to push himself up on an elbow. 

“Toki, what the fuck ‘r you doin’?” Ranmaru’s voice is sleepy. Tokiya usually went to work earlier than Ranmaru, so Ranmaru only woke himself up enough for Tokiya to give him a goodbye kiss on the forehead and for Ranmaru to tell him to stay safe and then sleep for another hour before _he_ needs to get up. 

But Tokiya was at least ten minutes late, and he was rushing around the room and digging through things and his panic was getting Ranmaru on edge. Tokiya doesn’t stop digging through their closet when he answers Ranmaru. 

“I need a small bag.” Tokiya grumbles. “And the only bags of my own I can find are backpacks.”

“Take my tote.” Ranmaru mumbles. “‘N calm down. It’ll be fine.”

Tokiya sighs, but his focus changes and he grabs Ranmaru’s tote bag- a worn down, tan one, covered in various, iron-on patches that Tokiya thinks Ranmaru’s owned for years. Tokiya slips it over his shoulder and he finally makes his way to the bed, cupping Ranmaru’s cheek with one hand and pressing a firm kiss to Ranmaru’s temple. 

“I’ll see you tonight.” Tokiya mumbles.

Ranmaru’s eyes are closed, as they have been since figuring out the cause of Tokiya’s panic, and they don’t open, even when he reaches out to squeeze Tokiya’s hip. “Stay safe, babe.”

“I will.” Tokiya murmurs, a small smile on his face, looking at Ranmaru. He takes an extra second, gently running his fingers through Ranmaru’s hair, soft and flat from his shower last night and the current lack of gel, before Tokiya finally pulls himself away. 

When Tokiya gets to the bus stop and realizes that he hadn’t grabbed his phone, he immediately assumes that this day is going to be terrible. Out of nothing but fleeting hope, Tokiya checks the tote, in hopes that he accidentally slipped his phone into the bag on instinct. He really, truthfully expects it to be empty- because he had grabbed the bag with the knowledge that he’d be taking home several scripts to look over and didn’t want to hold it, and didn’t need a full bag to carry them, either. It means that he’s surprised to see something in the bag, and it isn’t his phone. Tokiya grabs it, and he recognizes it quickly. It’s an MP3 player with a pair of connected earbuds. Tokiya had seen it before, because Ranmaru liked having it, even though he could carry more music on his phone. And maybe Tokiya wouldn’t have actually turned it on, but without his phone, he didn’t have any music himself, and the half an hour ride to his location would be much longer with nothing to do. 

And Ranmaru often put demos of unreleased music on his MP3, Tokiya had learned. 

Ranmaru usually had no problem with playing clips of his songs for Tokiya when Tokiya asked. And Tokiya normally didn’t look into Ranmaru’s things…

But he was curious. And he loved listening to Ranmaru’s music. It was hard not to relent. 

Luckily, it was fully charged. Tokiya doesn’t put in the headphones until he’s settled in the car, and it’s only then that he looks through the collected playlists- stopped when he sees _his_ name. 

For a second, Tokiya considers not looking at it. But that second is gone quickly because Tokiya really wants to know what’s in this playlist. It’s a surprisingly long one, most of the music _not_ by Ranmaru, though there are two or three demos from Ranmaru in it, too. 

Tokiya finds that it’s hard to hold back his smile, listening through about a third of the playlist. For the rest of the day, he’s quick to return to the playlist on any break that he has. 

It’s sweet. And it’s sweeter, knowing that Ranmaru had collected a playlist that Tokiya can only assumes reminds Ranmaru of him, and it was purely for Ranmaru. The date the playlist was made was nearly a year ago- Tokiya doubted that Ranmaru ever had any intention of showing Tokiya this playlist. 

But it gets Tokiya thinking. 

Ranmaru shows up at about lunchtime, making a beeline towards Tokiya, giving nothing more than a grunt or a nod to the other workers and the other boys greeting him. 

“Am I in trouble?”

Ranmaru clicks his tongue, but he ignores the question to reach into his pocket. “Just came ‘ere ‘t give this ‘t you. Don’t like you walkin’ around with no phone.”

Tokiya’s expression softens, and he gives Ranmaru a smile. They’re never obvious in public, or even in private-public areas like they were in now, but Tokiya’s been told (or teased) before about how open his expressions were when talking to Ranmaru. “Thank you. I hadn’t realized I’d forgotten it until it was too late to go back.”

“Try ‘t be more careful with it.” It’s a scolding, but Tokiya takes it good-naturedly. “Doesn’t do ya any good if you don’t have it on you.”

“I know. I’ll be more careful.” 

Ranmaru grunts. He reaches out long enough to squeeze Tokiya’s upper arm and then lets his hand drop, moving into his pocket. “I’ve gotta get back. ‘M just on my lunch break. But I’ll see ya tonight.”

“Wait.” Tokiya takes a step, over to the table he had been sitting at, to grab his sandwich. It was a sub type style- mostly veggies, but if Ranmaru had come during his lunch, he likely didn’t have any time to grab anything. Tokiya offers it to him. 

Ranmaru grabs it, a bit slowly, but in the end he ends up halving it, paper and sandwich, and handing half of it to Tokiya. “Thanks.”

Tokiya’s smile has returned. For as worried as he had been about today being bad, it certainly hadn’t turned out to be. And Ranmaru gets almost all of the credit for it. Even if Ranmaru didn’t know the full extent of why. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Ranmaru doesn’t ask for the bag back the next day, so Tokiya doesn’t give it to him. He actually wakes up a bit earlier than he needs to, as well, though _that_ doesn’t escape Ranmaru. Ranmaru had been asleep, but as soon as Tokiya’s alarm clock goes off, Tokiya only has enough time to turn it off before Ranmaru is pulling Tokiya closer. 

“Too early.” Ranmaru grumbles. 

“You don’t have to get up, darling.” Tokiya assures, setting his hand on top of Ranmaru’s. He’s still sleepy, too, but he’s waking up quickly. 

“Then why d’you?” Ranmaru’s grip hasn’t loosened, and Tokiya’s poor attempt at subtly getting Ranmaru’s arm off of him isn’t working, either.

“It’s only for today. I’ll be back to normal schedule tomorrow.”

“It’s like four in the mornin’, Tokiya.”

“Then I’ll go in an hour late tomorrow.” Tokiya manages to turn around. Ranmaru’s eyes are open, in a very sleepy glare- and if it’s meant to be intimidating, it fails. Tokiya thinks it’s adorable. Tokiya leans forward, to press a kiss to Ranmaru’s forehead. “Go back to sleep, Ran.”

“‘N when ‘ave I ever gone ‘t sleep ‘fore you left?”

“I’m not leaving yet.” Tokiya assures. “I’m doing homework. I’ll only be out in the living room.”

“Bring yer laptop in here.” 

Tokiya sighs, but it’s a very soft sound. “Ran, I’ll only be in the next room.”

“I can sleep through anythin’. Bring it in ‘ere. Or I’ll go sleep on the couch.”

Tokiya shakes his head, the best he can with the way his head is still on the pillow. “Alright, alright. I’ll bring it in here.”

Tokiya works for an entire hour and a half- and he really was only going to work for an hour but Ranmaru had fallen asleep with his forehead against Tokiya’s thigh, and Tokiya didn’t want to wake him. 

Tokiya’s reminded a bit of a cat. 

Speaking of- Tokiya was really covered. Ranmaru had one of their two cats curled against his stomach, and their second was on Tokiya’s legs, kneading into the blanket, and subsequently right into Tokiya’s skin, too. They had gotten the two together, as kittens, when they had moved in- a pretty, well-tempered white one named Milk and a wild, orange one named Honey. Ranmaru had assured Tokiya that orange-cats were usually pretty calm. 

Obviously, in this case, he was wrong. 

Ranmaru’s alarm finally goes off, and he groans, burying his face further into Tokiya’s leg. Tokiya drops his hand to pet through Ranmaru’s hair. 

“You might be able to get in another forty minutes.” Tokiya says softly. “Your alarm’s awfully early today.”

“Set it ‘t wake up with you.” Ranmaru mumbles, his hand moving to hold onto Tokiya’s leg, lower and under the blanket. “So much fer that.”

“I could probably go in a few minutes late.” Tokiya mumbles, closing his laptop. “If you want to go eat breakfast together before I go.”

“You go get ready.” Ranmaru sighs, finally pushing himself up. “I’ll make it.”

It’s only a few days later that Ranmaru wakes up grumpy. It isn’t often that Ranmaru has trouble sleeping, but tonight had clearly been one of those nights. He’s awake before Tokiya, and Tokiya can see the sour expression on his face getting out of the shower. 

“Couldn’t find my music player earlier.” Ranmaru grunts, getting clothes out of the closet. “You seen it?”

“I think it’s in your bag you lent me the other day.” Tokiya’s voice is still a bit soft with sleep, though he sits up, hearing Ranmaru’s flat tone. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.”

Tokiya frowns, but he stands. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I’m fine, Toki. ‘M just gonna go in early, get today done with.”

Tokiya’s eyebrows pull in, but he carefully approaches Ranmaru. “I’m sorry.” Tokiya’s hand finds Ranmaru’s upper arm, squeezing lightly. “I could go make you lunch to take with you if you’d like?”

“...Sure.” Ranmaru sighs. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Tokiya presses a kiss to the back of Ranmaru’s shoulder and then leaves the room to go head into the kitchen. 

Tokiya can’t make anything fancy, but he manages to get together a somewhat decent lunch that he hopes Ranmaru will like just as Ranmaru exits the bedroom, fully dressed and ready to go. Tokiya hands it to Ranmaru and then leans in to press a kiss to his cheek. “If you need anything, feel free to call or text me. I’ll keep an eye out.”

“I’ll be fine. But thanks.”

Ranmaru takes the food Tokiya hands him, and he slips it into his bag, only pausing enough to take out his music player. He pauses with his hand on the doorknob. “Stay safe today, babe.” 

He slips out the door before he actually hears a response- but he can feel Tokiya watching him out. 

The music player is fully charged- more charged than Ranmaru thinks that it should be. It only takes him a moment to realize why. 

There’s a new playlist, created only a few days ago and simply titled “Ran.”

Ranmaru had yet to call a car, and there wasn’t one scheduled to pick him up yet. He doesn’t call one now, yet, either, moving to look through the titles of the songs in the playlist. He recognized some of them, but all of them were newly added and some of them were new. 

Ranmaru thumbs through the list a second time, but he almost doesn’t see it, thinking through his next move. He waits, sitting down on the curb to play one of the songs, one he hadn’t heard before. 

He doesn’t even finish the song before he’s up, heading to go back inside his apartment. Tokiya’s in the room, not quite finished getting dressed, but he’s moved into the doorway to see why Ranmaru’s returned. Ranmaru closes the door with his foot and he sets down his bag, music player and headphones onto the side table by the door and he makes a beeline towards Tokiya. 

Tokiya watches him, his current question of why Ranmaru was home dead in his throat with the purpose that Ranmaru heads towards him with. When Ranmaru is close enough, he gets a hand on Tokiya’s bare hip and pulls him closer, his second hand on Tokiya’s cheek, pulling him into a kiss. 

Tokiya’s still confused, but his hands hold onto Ranmaru’s arm, and his shirt, and he responds to the kiss until Ranmaru pulls back, pressing his forehead to Tokiya’s shirt. 

“Let’s call in today.” Ranmaru mumbles. “Say fuck it ‘n just spend a day together.”

“Alright.” It doesn’t take much convincing, though Tokiya’s eyes are searching Ranmaru’s. “But will you at least tell me why?”

“I found yer playlist.” Ranmaru has yet to let go of Tokiya. “‘N it really made me realize that I’d rather spend today with you.”

“You must have been in a bad mood.” Tokiya says softly. He’s managed to move his hands enough to cup Ranmaru’s face with both of his. “But if this will help then I’d love to spend today with you, Ran.”

“Honestly? The playlist helped.” Ranmaru’s voice is a mumble, but it’s honest. “‘N I figured that goin’ back inside was the only way that mood would stick.”

“Then I’m glad you came back inside.”

“Why don’t we lay down? I’ll put on the rest ‘a the playlist. ‘S that what you were workin’ on the other day?”

“It was.” Tokiya’s smile is small and sheepish. “I found your playlist for me, and I thought it was only fair that I made one for you, too. I… felt better. When I listened to the one you made for me. I’m just glad that the one I made for you worked the same way.”

Ranmaru doesn’t respond to Tokiya- instead, he leans in, and Tokiya lets Ranmaru pull him into another kiss. 

“Get into bed.” Tokiya says gently, touching his nose to Ranmaru’s before Ranmaru can pull away too far. “I’ll set up the music.”

Ranmaru slowly lets go of Tokiya, but Tokiya moves very quickly when he goes out, still shirtless, to grab Ranmaru’s MP3. When he’s back, Ranmaru is already in bed- and it’s clearly been a bit of a struggle to keep Milk and Honey away from Tokiya’s spot on the bed, but when Tokiya goes to get back in the bed, he actually does still have a spot. There’s even enough room for Ranmaru to pull Tokiya closer. 

Tokiya would have grabbed his laptop, so that they could listen to it with working speakers- but Tokiya felt that it would be better to use the actual MP3, and Ranmaru doesn’t seem to have any problems, simply putting in one of the earbuds and offering Tokiya they other. He holds Tokiya closely after they’ve started the music. 

They don’t speak, as they listen to the music. By the time that the playlist ends, Ranmaru is asleep. Tokiya carefully takes out Ranmaru’s earbud, and he settles the player somewhere safe on the bed without leaving Ranmaru’s grip, not wanting to wake him. 

He’s glad, seeing the peaceful expression on Ranmaru’s face. Ranmaru always looked calm when he was asleep. Tokiya hoped that he felt better, when he woke up. 

And if he didn’t- Tokiya would still be there. He understood having an off-day, and truthfully, he was glad that Ranmaru didn’t force himself through it when he really didn’t have to. 

Tokiya presses a gentle kiss to Ranmaru’s forehead, getting a soft, sleepy noise from the man but not waking him up. 

“I love you, Ran.” Tokiya whispers, a soft smile on his face. “Thank you.”


End file.
